Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

June 15, 2020

Multiple Assays in a Real-Time RT-PCR SARS-CoV-2 Panel Can Mitigate the Risk of Loss of Sensitivity by New Genomic Variants during the COVID-19 Outbreak

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  • Penarrubia et al. assessed the effect of accumulated genetic variability of SARS-CoV-2 on sensitivity of five SARS-CoV-2 PCR assays. A total of 11,627 (34%) genomes included single mutations that affected annealing of a PCR assay. Variations in 8,773 (26%) genomes were considered high risk, whereas an additional 2,854 (8.43%) genomes had single mutations that were not predicted affect sensitivity.  
  • Targeting more than one region in the viral genome for SARS-CoV-2 detection may mitigate the risk of loss of sensitivity due to the unknown mutation rate during this SARS-CoV-2 outbreak. 

Penarrubia et al. (June 8, 2020). Multiple Assays in a Real-Time RT-PCR SARS-CoV-2 Panel Can Mitigate the Risk of Loss of Sensitivity by New Genomic Variants during the COVID-19 Outbreak. International Journal of Infectious Diseases. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2020.06.027